Buck Kartalian was born in Detroit,
Michigan and by the age of two he was restless
and yearned for the big city. So, his family
moved to New York City living on the lower east
side amongst newly arrived immigrants from Italy,
Greece, Turkey, Ireland etc. He had a wonderful
childhood. His father made a lot of dough. He was
a baker. It was a different time. There was radio
but no TV. Through the kindness of the Episcopal
church many neighborhood kids, including Buck
went to camp every summer. The camp was in
Ivoryton Connecticut near the Ivoryton Playhouse.
Buck would be fascinated with the actors
rehearsing on the lawn outside, little knowing
that someday he would be performing at this very
playhouse.

During World War II Buck was drafted into the
Navy and served aboard a destroyer in the
pacific. If you insist, he might tell you some
war stories, When the war was over, Buck had no
idea what he wanted to do for a living. While
bumming around with some friends they noticed a
doorway around Times Square that had a sign
reading Bothners Gym, upstairs. So up they went
and lo and behold there was a huge gymnasium with
barbells for weightlifters, mats for wrestlers,
and harnesses for learning front and back flips.
Buck immediately joined the gym. Buck worked out
with the weights, learning to do backflips,
hand-balancing and tumbling. He got so good with
the acrobatics that often he would be asked to
fill in when someone got hurt. His physique
developed so quickly that people were amazed. He
entered the Mr. New York City contest and won,
and next entered the Mr. America contest. He came
close and was runner-up with a special award for
best arms and chest.

One day Buck was wrestling with one of the
professional wrestlers at the gym. He would do
funny moves like dive under the wrestler's legs
and leap on his shoulders, do a drop kick and a
back flip. He was so quick the wrestler didn't
know where Buck was half the time. Everyone in
the gym gathered around howling with laughter.
Suddenly, a huge man came up to Buck and said
"Hey kid, I book wrestlers, want to wrestle
professionally?" Buck replied that he was
only 5' 3" and weighed 150 pounds, and
didn't compare to the average wrestler in
stature. The man said "Listen, you're a mass
of muscle and you're also very funny." So
soon Buck the wrestler was enjoying the roar of
the crowd. He was booked as Mighty Mouse and the
Perpetual Motion Man. Very soon he became a big
favorite in nearby towns on the east coast.

One day about eight months later a couple of
actors at the gym were going on an audition and
asked Buck if he wanted to tag along. While
waiting in the wings of the theatre a woman came
up to Buck , handed him a script and said
"You're next". Buck replied that he was
just waiting for his friends. She looked at him
and again repeated, "You're
next".Shrugging his shoulders Buck walked
onto a brightly lit stage with the laughter of
his friends in his ears. The theatre was pitch
black except for the light shining on him. A
voice in the dark told Buck to turn to page 4 and
read the part of Samson. Buck read and walked off
the stage to his still laughing friends. The same
lady asked him for his name and telephone number.
Five weeks later after completely forgeting about
the audition, Buck got a call saying that he had
gotten the part in a Broadway show, "Romeo
& Juliet" with Olivia DeHavilland as
Juliet, Jack Hawkins as Mercutio and Buck as
Samson.

After the show closed, a friend asked Buck if he
was going back to wrestling, but the acting bug
had bitten him, and acting was what he wanted to
do. His friend mentioned that director Josh Logan
was looking for replacements for "Mister
Roberts", a Broadway show. Buck thanked him,
rushed over to the theatre, where he auditioned
and got the job. For two years he was with the
National Touring Company of "Mister
Roberts", playing a funny little tough guy
called Insigna. After the tour ended, Buck
repeated his Insigna role in Summer Stock
theatres. Soon, he was asked to stay and do other
shows, sometimes doing as many as seven shows in
a summer.

Buck never took an acting lesson in his life. He
learned by working in front of an audience.

The year was 1955, and Buck was off to Hollywood
to work in the movie version of "Mister
Roberts" with Henry Fonda. Buck is
remembered in that movie as the sailor talking to
James Cagney on the phone while the soapsuds
envelop him in the ship's laundry.

Next was a Columbia picture called "Cell
2455" where he played chauffeur for the mob.
Buck was concerned about the driving part because
he didn't know how. An actor friend told him not
to worry. "They just shake the car and make
like it's moving". However, one nights, the
director said he wanted the car to go about 60
mph and screech to a halt in front of the casino.
He then looked at Buck and told him to get behind
the wheel. Buck was stunned and replied "I
don't know how to drive." The director told
him to quit clowning and get behind the wheel.
Buck finally convinced the director that living
in New York he never had the need to drive a car.
"Okay" said the director, "you've
got 15 minutes to learn and then we shoot the
scene."

Someone took Buck aside and showed him how to use
a stick shift. With Buck behind the wheel, the
other actors were scared to death. On
"action" Buck did it on the first take,
making it look even more dangerous. The
frightened actors getting out of the car were a
sight to behold. It was the most real moment in
the film.

After staying in Hollywood for about a year, Buck
returned to New York where he performed on
Broadway with Lloyd Nolan, Tom Poston and
Geraldine Page.

In 1961, Buck , his lovely wife Margaret and baby
Aram moved to Hollywood to stay. He continued
working in featured roles in TV and motion
pictures. He also added two more kids to his
resume, Julie and Jason. Jason is a writer and
recently directed his own screenplay. Buck enjoys
time with his family and has two grandchildren.
Margaret is his biggest fan and severest critic.

A gala evening celebrating the 30th anniversary
of "The Planet of the Apes" took place
in Hollywood in 1998 where they showed the film
on a wide screen. Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall
, and many other stars were present. Buck spoke
to Heston, reminiscing about the film. Heston had
never seen Buck without his ape outfit during the
shooting of the film. As far as he was concerned
Julius was a gorilla. Buck remembers getting to
the set at 20th Century Fox at 4 a.m. every
morning for make-up. A mold was made of his face
so that the appliance would fit perfectly. There
is a scene that opens with Julius smoking a
cigar. "That was my bright idea" Buck
proudly boasts. Perhaps the most memorable line
in the movie that always gets a chuckle is when
Julius says, "You know what they say, Human
See, Human do." While working on the film,
Buck never dreamed how important a film it was to
become. It is as popular today as when it opened
30 years ago.

Buck also has a funny scene with Elizabeth Hurley
in Disney's "My Favorite Martian"
opening in March 1999.

Buck agrees with Confucius who said "Find
something you love doing and you'll never have to
work a day in your life."

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